25 Jan 2016
Adidas expected to sever sponsorship ties with IAAF
BY Matthew Campelli
Adidas, the giant German sportswear company, is expected to terminate its sponsorship deal with the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) four years early, amid doping and corruption allegations surrounding the organisation.
According to the BBC, the company informed the IAAF of its decision following the revelation of the doping scandal which has rocked the sport since last November.
The IAAF signed an 11-year deal with Adidas in November 2008 – worth £5.6m (US$8m, €7.4m) a year – and the organisation represented one of its longest-serving official sponsors alongside Canon, Toyota, Seiko, TDK, TBS and Mondo.
The BBC’s report added that Adidas has cited breach of contract in relation to the allegations of corruption as justification for ending the agreement. Earlier this morning (25 January), the IAAF issued a statement: “The IAAF is in close contact with all its sponsors and partners as we embark on our reform process.”
Last week, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published the second part of its groundbreaking report on doping, with its independent commission chair Dick Pound claiming that corruption was ”embedded” in the IAAF.
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